An American Family

Updated July 8, 2005 11:59 p.m. ET

(See Corrections & Amplifications item below.)

The sudden death in a plane crash last week of John Walton at the age of 58 provides an opportunity to reflect on some of the great things that he and his family have done for America. Wal-Mart, founded by Mr. Walton's father, Sam, in 1962, and co-owned largely by his widow and children, has been the object of such vitriol of late that it might be easy to forget the benefits of the...